These teachings relate generally to reflective optical imagers, and, more particularly, to a novel optical imager design that is compact and has a high throughput, or fast optical speed.
In some optical systems, it is often desirable for the imager component of the system to provide substantially increased throughput to the detecting component of the system. This can sometimes be difficult to achieve, particularly for reflective imagers, as a result of the obscuring nature of reflective systems as well as tradeoffs in size, spatial resolution, and other considerations.
For example, consider some applications of imaging sensors in which it is desirable to have a fine spatial resolution on the ground while simultaneously collecting as much imagery in as short a time as possible.
There is a need for a reflective imager component of a system that provides substantially increased throughput to the detecting component of the system.